Saints wrap up training camp

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. – On a chilly, overcast Wednesday morning, the New Orleans Saints wrapped up training camp at The Greenbrier with one their most crisp and intense practices since arriving three weeks ago.

Most of the more than two-hour practice followed the typical morning routine: walkthroughs, stretching, a combination of individual and team drills and specials teams. But, about an hour into the session, head coach Sean Payton called an audible, summoning the team to 20-yard line, where it huddled around him. When Payton dismissed the team from the brief powwow, the players' cheers began to crescendo while the defense ran to the end zone and the offense huddled at the 10. The players on both units were animated, clearly excited about the news Payton had delivered.

"I mean if the coach comes in and says, 'This is a live goal line period,' after you've been blocking the same people for three weeks and that period, which is a competition, doesn't get like that, you're probably not doing something right," starting right tackle Zach Strief said. "We always said that short yardage goal line scrimmages are not good scrimmages unless there's a scuffle, some smack talk and a huge argument at the end about who won."

By that standard, the goal line scrimmage, which included all three of Strief's benchmarks, was an overwhelming success -- thanks in large part to a scuffle between Strief and defensive tackle Akiem Hicks that pulled all 22 players (and probably a few more) into a big scrum.

"If you don't get amped up for it, and you don't build yourself up and take it to another level, you'll get beat up because the other guy is (amped up), so it's kind of on everyone because it's an intense physical burst of a play," he said. "I mean that's four seconds, and today, that was real. That was the real deal, that's, to be honest with you, probably worse than a game experience.

"We all kind of know what's going on, and it's full go, how hard can you hit people. So in a situation like that it was a real drill and it was a lot of fun. That talking and pushing and shoving and smack talk and arguing, that's fun.

And while there was an argument about which side won the final play of the period, there was none about the overall winner. That title belonged to the defense, which dominated, winning — if you ask it — on all but one play, Khiry Robinson's touchdown run around the left side.

Payton, who usually assumes the role of head official during practices, remained neutral, though, uncertain about whether Travaris Cadet found the end zone on the final play.

"I think we'll have to look at the film," he said.

Strief said he needed no such evidence, however.

"He's in. It's not even close," he said with the utmost conviction. "I was actually right on the goal line because I had pushed my guy two yards backwards and I was looking right down the line. I saw the ball break the (goal line) and I put my hands up immediately because I saw it."

"But they argued that yesterday on short yardage and we got it by a yard and a half. It wasn't even close."

Either way, Payton was pleased with energy and intensity of the scrimmage, especially considering how rarely the team works on its goal line packages.

"It's a segment that gets maybe 10 to 15 snaps a year," he said. "We did get a number of good looks. We'll look at the tape and may have an opportunity to have one more of those drills."

Added motivation: Veterans don't usually give the rookies too much credit. They make them to earn it.

On Tuesday evening, though, the rookies took a good first step to earning the respect of their older teammates, holding, behind closed-doors, the Saintss annual "Rookie Show."

Strief said it was one of the best he's seen in his nine-year NFL career.

"I really liked Ronald Powell's (imitation of) Junior Gallette," he said. "He actually did (Galette) twice and they were both excellent. That got a great response, so I thought he was good.

"Brandon Cooks did an excellent Patrick Robinson. And then Vinnie Sunseri kind of knocked Kenny Vacarro out of the park."

The best part of the evening, Strief said, was the extra motivation the veterans had at practice the next day.

"There was a little bit of retribution this morning, so there was already some bad feelings," he said. "Fortunately, I wasn't involved in that."

The players had added incentive to play well. It was the final day of camp.

"You know, as a player, there's a little bit of excitement in that," he said. "Look, it's been awesome here but it's still training camp and it's still three weeks of practicing and hitting each other. It can be a grind, not like it once was, but (with that said) it's 65 degrees and breezy out there, so that will pump up the energy a good bit.

"And then on top of it, there was a little bit of ribbing last night. There's some feelings hurt, so some guys are getting something out of that.